Writing is thinking. Journaling and keeping a log of thoughts and feelings during the year is essential. This will allow the student to build a database of questions and ideas for reflection or further research. Journals are checked and read by coordinators and other EMC2 students, and each journal is live and open to the public. This is meant to provide the students with an audience and to ensure collaboration and provoke questions from sources other than the researcher.
- Journals must be published on the student's website.
- Students are strongly encouraged to read and respond to each other's journals.
A journal is meant to provide insight into the thinking process, contribute to the author's progress, and be well-communicated. Consider the following questions when writing your journals.
- Is it a journal? Does the journal exhibit thinking? Is there something in this journal that only the author could have provided, some insight into the mind of the author that no other source could have offered? The author must only show that they had a thought of their own and published it.
- Is something being journaled? Does the journal demonstrate thinking? Does the author analyze a proposition or argument? Does the author generate a new insight? It’s not enough for the author to say “I think this is a bad idea.” The author must justify their statement of thought by including the thinking process, by thinking through the topic of the journal through their writing/speaking/drawing...
- Is the journal effective? Is the thinking well-communicated? Is the presentation of the thinking clear and complete? Is the writing (or medium) engaging? Is the audience able to understand the author’s thought after viewing the journal? The journal must be well-written (high quality), demonstrating effort and care. The journal must accomplish its purpose.
- Is the journal purposeful? Does the journal contribute to the author’s progress in their project or to the author’s progress in the EMC2 program? Is the topic of the journal related to the topic of the author’s project? Does the journal demonstrate development of a different “C” skill cultivated through this program? It must be clear that the author had a purpose in mind when writing this journal (or doing the task that they’re documenting through this journal), other than to meet their journal requirement. The “So What?” for the journal should be evident.